Pulverizing and mulching attachment



- J. .1. MCCARTHY mwmm AND MULCHING ATTACHMENT Filed Aug. 29. 1925 Patented Feb. 8, 1927.

JOH J. "MoC ARTI-IY, or DELTA, cone-Reno.

Application filed {August 29, 1925. Serial No. 53,342;

This invention relates to ground pulverizing devices, and the general object-of the invention istoprovide a pulverizing device .whichmay be readily connected to beet cultivators or other agricultural implements of like character'and' which in its passage oi' ertheground willbreak up the earth so as to form a mulch of very finely broken up earth particles upon the top of the, ground.

A further object isto provide a-device of-this character which will notleave lurnps or -clod-s or act to shove clods upon small plants. i

-A stillfurther'objectis to provide an attachment of this character having a plate formed upon its under face with teeth, the plate being adapted to hold the crust of earthdown and with. theteeth to .pulverize this earth to thereby fornr a mulch. A :further objectis to so dispose the v teeth on theplate and to so form the platethat the trash, leaves, etc., will beshifted laterally and will not clog the teeth on the plate. @therobjects will appear in the course of the following description. My invention isillustrated in the accompanyingadrawing, wherein- Y I Figure 1 is a perspective view of :apnl- :m' verizing and mulching attachment. showing thecultivating machine to which the device is applied in fragmentary section; v .Figure' 2is an under-side plan view ofthe plate'10;

Figure 3 is aside elevation of the struc' ture shown in Figure 2. r

Referring to the drawing, 10 designates a plate of sheetmetal which is preferably narrowed at its forward end and turned up,

i as at 11. Attached to the upper face of this plate and extending upward therefrom is a supporting iron or hanger 12' formed at its upper end with a transverse slot 13. Extending from the under face of the plate downwardly are a plurality of teeth 15. These teeth may extend downward any desired distance but will preferably project about three inches below the plate. This plate may be of any desired length or width, but in'actual practice I make the plate about twenty-two and a half inches long by nine and a half inches wide.

Preferably the teeth will be drop forged and each tooth formed with ashoulder 16 and with a screw-threaded shank '17 adapted to extend through and engage the plate.

course, it wil'l be understood that the teeth-,Inight'be welded to the plate. Preferably theteeth will be slightly-tilted relative to the plate in :forwardly extending direction, thoughI donotwish to be limited thereto.

The supporting hanger 12 is i forined, as before stated, with a slotat its'upper end, and a sh-ank 18;:extending downward from the beet cultivator rAisbolted tothe :Ineinber 12,- by a plurality. of bolts passing through the slots. This" permits the .pa'rr. 12 to be-adjusted, as. desired. WhileI have used this device in conhectionwitha jbeet cultivator and mounted it upon ,a'beet cultiv ator, I donotawis h'to belimitedfto this i as: it might be mounted upon. any [agricultural machine such as ordinary .ci'iltivators, planters, etc. I

The ,purpose of the slot 13" is to permit the shoe 10 to be tipped tofa slanting-posh tionuor disposed in a-horizontal position i and then-held inplace firmly; bylthe"bolt passing through the -'slot. In,;actua'l use, there will 'be two or more of these devices inountedupon the implement frameflan'dfba. .ing d1spose'd;1n the furrows between thef rows, The plate s'bear against the surface V of the ground and act not onlyto pulverize the ground but to prevent clods' and {lumps from being thrown or' forcedf laterally.

against 'jthe plants. Theffdeviees make a I dry weather.

,fine mulchov'erthe tqpof th ound and i this is extremely desirable, particularlyin .90

The otherwise [crusty furrow is broken up into a fine, dust-like mulchj which will not pack and the plate presses and crumbles the ground, while the teeth break up and scratch it. Preferably the teeth will be setin triangular relation with the apex of the triangle at, the forward end of the device. This is for the purpose of thoroughly tearing up. the ground and destroying' weeds betweenthe rows of plants.

The shank 18 might be disposed in angular relation to thus tip the bladesor shoes 10 laterally if so desired. This mulcher and. Y I

pulverizer proceeds upon an entirely different principle from the roller and disk pulverizer which actsto packthe ground.

while'breaking up the clods, whereas my device by reason of tliefiat form of the metallic shoe upwardly turned at the front holds down the ground while the teeth break up the clods and pulverize the ground, thus.

preventing tearing up of any portion of the planted rows being cultivated. The

effectiveness of thisclod breaker and pulverizer is due to the fact that it holds the a portion of a the plants..

I r V The particular featureof my construction n V .the ground to pieces.

' ground down while the clods are being turned up, whereas an ordinary cultivator tears the whole clod loose and a clod may include planted row, thus destroying is that my cultivating device holds the groundfirmly in place while the teeth tear The turned up edge of thevc'ultivator shoe or plate permits it to slip over the ground butthe' shoe is fastened to the cultivator in such manner as to hold the shoe or plate firmly pressed down-"against the ground as tightly as possible. The result is that: the ground is held firmly in place While the'teeth pulverize or mulch the ground. (In all irrigated tracts thereismore or less flooding of the ground" so the Water not only goesdown the furrow provided for it, but floods out into the row and cakes and bakes and crusts the ground "to, such an extent thatif one would use an ordinary cultivator 1n cultivating this 1rrigated ground the clods would lift up which r possible to lift a clodor move anything because the ground held under heavy pressure -while :the cultivator'is tearing it to pieces. I J 35 i 1 would tear out the little beet or head lettuce plants so that the-work of cultivating would be 'diflicult. Withmy constructionit isim- It will be noted that my cultivator shoe or plate is tapered toward its forward end ancl ;upwardly turned,v and' that the teeth ,arearranged in divergent relation toward ,the rear, orin' other words, the outer teeth -are arranged in two divergent rows. ,isimportant-for the reason that a clod is tjfirst"strucklby the single forward cutter I This forward spike. V

whereofI hereunto affix my JOHN J. MGCARTHY,

tooth while it is held to the ground under the curved part of the plate or shoe and then the clod is acted'upon sucessively by the other cutter teeth, the rearwardly divergent teethacting to shift weeds, trash or rocks laterally outward on both sides of the cultivator shoe or plate instead of permitting this'to gather upon the teeth as would two lateral rowsof'spikes extending rearward from said single spike in divergent relation to each other, the plate being provided with an upstandingmember'whereby it may be engaged with'an implement and carried over the'ground in close contact therewith. r

2. A pulverizer and inulcher of the char tacter described comprising a metallic plate inrp-erforate throughout its entire extent,

the forward end of the plate being narrowed and upwardly turned, an upstanding member rigidly attached to themetal plate and extending upward and forward therefrom,

and spikes mounted upon the plate and extending downward therefrom, there being a single spike at the upwardlyturned forwvard end of the plate andrearwardly diverging rows of spikes rearward of said In testimony signature. 

